After Anadolu Zero has already reached the final tonight (Thursday) at the end of a tremendous drama, the main dish is served in the semi-final of the Final Four in the Euroleague, with Barcelona meeting Real Madrid. The Catalans have won all five previous meetings in all competitions this season, while the Blancos have managed to beat their arch-rivals in the Spanish Super Cup held eight months ago.
Barça, who have qualified for the last four thanks to a 2-3 win in the quarter-final series against Bayern Munich, and finished the regular season at the top of the table, hope to move one step further than last season, then surrendered to Anadolu Zero in the final. Sharonas Jasikevicius’ team is building on the good ability of its big star, Nikola Mirotic, who was selected as the MVP of the season yesterday.
On the other hand, Real Madrid reached the semi-finals thanks to a surprisingly easy sweep over Maccabi Tel Aviv, and counts a total of nine consecutive victories in all factories, when before the series against Israeli champions Pablo Lasso and his players suffered the worst crisis in the Blancos’ tenure. The most decorated team in European basketball (10 trophies), destined for the Final Four last year, will try to get one step closer to the title.
the progress of the game
Quarter 1:
Nigel Williams Goss was injured in the first minute and was replaced by Sergio Yui. Gershon Yabuzla started well and scored 10 of Real’s first 14 points, which went up to 8:14 and caused Sharas to request a first timeout. Nikola Mirotic got into things and so did Brandon Davis, and Barcelona ran 0: 7 and took the lead. The result remained close until the end of the first quarter – 19:19 Towards the second quarter.
Quarter 2:
The Blancos’ two threes at the start of the first quarter gave them a 5-point lead, and the Catalans once again asked for a timeout. Yavosla, who started very strongly in the first quarter, cooled down a bit, and Barcelona clung on again and even took the lead – 29:31. Davis’ assist for a three by Nicola Laprobitola set 33:39 for Barcelona and this time it was Pablo Lasso’s turn to call a timeout urgently. The Catalans’ gallop continued on the road to a double-digit advantage. 34:45 To Barcelona at the break.